NASCAR: Van Gisbergen puts Cup regulars on notice

–by Mark Cipolloni–

He had never driven a NASCAR Cup car before, and he almost won the pole Saturday for NASCAR’s first-ever street race in Chicago.

Shane van Gisbergen has sent shockwaves through the NASCAR world after narrowly missing out on pole on his Cup Series debut as he looked to school the NASCAR regulars on how to drive.

The three-time Supercars champion piloted his Project91 Chevrolet Camaro to third in an enthralling qualifying session in Chicago.

Van Gisbergen is competing in the wildcard Trackhouse-run entry, which is aimed at bringing international stars to NASCAR.

The two-time Bathurst winner also out qualified Trackhouse stablemates Daniel Suárez (fifth) and Ross Chastain (34th).

Hamlin, Reddick and van Gisbergen were joined in the final shootout by Suárez, Kyle Larson, AJ Allmendinger, Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell and Joey Logano.